For this assignment I had to create a warning poster. I went on google and found a danger template to start and then just had to figure out how to fill it. I wanted the warning sign to be goofy and something that isn’t usually seen. I ended up finding the picture of the guy falling and immediately thought of slipping on a banana peel. From there on it was easy. I found the banana peel I wanted and put it all into photoshop. I’m sure a sign like this has been done before but I like it and enjoyed doing this assignment.

This was a hard assignment for me to do because I used to be addicted to 2048. I was so addicted that I deleted it from my phone because I played it way too much. So as I was thinking of what to do for this, it was very tempting for me to download the app again. But when I read the instructions, right away I knew I wanted to do something with the holidays. As I started searching for pictures I ended up stumbling upon too many good Santa pictures so I stuck with Santa instead of incorporating different holidays. I like how it turned out. I still miss 2048 very much but it is for the best that I don’t play it anymore.

Well, I’ve survived week two. I now know what the professors mean when they say ds106 is life because it sure felt like it this week. I am a very slow reader and do not like to read in general so I was having to stay very disciplined in finishing all of the readings. I feel like I have a better understanding of noir now just from this week. Like I mentioned in my #noirreadings post, (http://landonepp.com/uncategorized/noir-noir-noir/) this style of writing and film is not my favorite. I am not big into murder mysteries because I want to know about everything that is going on but I can’t with these. I also stated that as the semester goes on, I hope to find the readings more and more exciting.

I really enjoyed doing the #characterdossier http://landonepp.com/uncategorized/johnny-corner-pocket/ and creating Johnny Corner Pocket. I fell more and more in love with the character as I was creating him. It was fun to bring him to life. I’m excited to get to use him more as the semester unfolds.

I completed 8 points worth of writing assignments. I enjoyed the different prompts we got to choose from. Each of them were unique in their own way.

I have customized my blog and am making it my own but I am still not satisfied with it just yet. I still need to play around with some themes and see what I like the most/ what looks the best. I am excited week two is over but I am also excited to start week three.

The noir readings I read this week were The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Killers, and The Shadow. They had to do with crime, mystery, and drama, aka all true to noir fashion. They were all very interesting so here is what I thought about all of them…

First, The Postman Always Rings Twice, it was a long read and I didn’t think I would ever finish it but I finally got the job done. There was, as expected, a large of amount of crime and mystery. There was also a large focus on sex in the story which added to the suspense and the deceit that went on. It was hard to pick up on the story at first since it jumped right into the action. The story was very focused on a greed for money and lust. It wasn’t one of my favorite stories and it was a little depressing with everything that went down but overall I think it represented the noir style writing well.

Second, I read The Killers and I was happy to see that it wasn’t as long as the first story I read. It started out with two hit-men in trench coats walking into Henry’s lunch-room. They were there for one reason and that was to find Ole Anderson and kill him. They did not end up seeing Ole Anderson and left the restaurant without any harm done. Nick “Bright Boy” went to go tell Ole Anderson that there were two men looking to kill him. Ole Anderson laid in his room just waiting for the day they find him. I did not like the ending and was hoping for a little more action. It was very depressing that Ole Anderson knew that there was nothing he could do and was waiting for his death.

Third, I read The Shadow and at first I didn’t like the layout of it since it was a script. As I read on I ended up enjoying the script version a lot more than I thought I would. I thought it brought the story to life and I felt I was one with the story. This story seemed very dark to me. I pictured the character, “the Shadow” a dark eerie man with a scary voice and a man that you never got to see his face. I found this story to stay very true to a noir styled story.

As for noir itself, it’s taking some time to get used to. This isn’t my favorite style to read to be honest. I don’t do well with mysteries and want to know whats going on all the time. I hope as the semester goes on I begin to enjoy this type of style more and more.

Once George retrieves Sam and brings him out in front of Al and Max, Sam quickly realizes that something fishy is going on. “All right, both of you stand right there,” Al says, looking at Sam and Nick. “What is going on?” asked Sam. “I’m going back to the kitchen with the nigger and bright boy,” Al said. They all walk back to the kitchen with Al following. Sam, being the competitive boxer that he is, is thinking of his next move as he walks into the kitchen. As soon as the kitchen door closes behind Al, Sam springs into action. Sam quickly pulls the sawed off shotgun away from Al and hits him across the forehead with the butt of the gun. Al goes down and Sam gets him in a headlock and covers his mouth. Sam quietly whispers for Nick to retrieve something for Sam to tie up Al with. Nick quickly finds some old rope and throws it to Sam. Sam then ties Al up to one of the cooking ovens and covers his mouth up with a towel. Meanwhile, Max is interrogating George but George refuses to talk. Max begins to wonder why he hasn’t heard Al and begins to call for him. Out of nowhere, Sam comes through a hidden side door and tackles Max to the ground. Max puts more of a fight up than Al does and the two begin to scuffle. George grabs a lunch tray and begins to hit Max over top his head to aid Sam in his efforts. Max is able to break free from the two workers and runs out the door. Sam and George watch as Max runs out the building while they catch their breath. Sam then goes into the kitchen to check up on Al and Nick. Both Sam and George go into the kitchen and see Nick lying dead on the floor and the old rope lying on the ground where Al was tied up. Sam and George quickly realize that this is far from over…

Today we accomplished something no one else on this Earth has ever done, we walked on the moon. As we were approaching the moon’s surface, my heart was pounding out of my chest. We could see the gray sandy bottom ahead. There was nothing but craters from meteorites that have struck the moon’s surface throughout time. As we were getting closer and closer, I look over at Buzz and he is shaking. I look over at Neil and all he can do is practice what he is going to say as he steps down on the moon. He keeps repeating, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” And continues to ask Buzz and I if that sounds good. Both Buzz and I are too anxious and nervous to respond. We finally touch down on the moon. Everything we have trained and worked for was for this moment. We said a quick prayer and opened the hatch to step down on the moon. We were all so nervous that we almost forgot to bring the American flag with us. Neil was the first one to go and executed his saying back down to the command center perfectly. Buzz was the second one to go and he was freaking out the entire way down the ladder. I was the third one to touch down and at that point all of my nerves were gone because I was so ready to touch the moons surface. As I was climbing down the latter, one foot at a time, I had a million thoughts running through my head and couldn’t believe this was actually happening. I’ll never forget the feeling as both my feet touched the ground. It was so light, so soft, something out of this world, (literally.) As soon as all three of us were out there, we went straight to work. We gathered what we needed to and were off the moon in after about two and a half hours. This has been an extraordinary journey and I’m so proud of my team and what we’ve accomplished with Apollo 11. Now its time to go home.

For today’s daily create I had to create a collage of everything I did today. Most of my morning was sleeping in since I never get to do that. The first thing I did one I woke up was go to this rec center place with my housemates to get chili dogs. (Yes, I know eating chili dogs as soon as you wake up doesn’t sound like the best thing in the world but I loved it.) We ate and then played a few games of pool while listening to good music. I then went to Wegman’s with some friends to study and do homework. That took up most of my day unfortunately. I then treated myself for all the work I did today with Chipotle. I brought the food back to my house and watched the Vanderbilt vs LSU game on my laptop and cheered on my old high school classmate who plays for Vanderbilt. After the game, my housemates and I were inspired and played a game of “HORSE” on our Little Tikes goal. I am now ending the night with my girlfriend and drinking my favorite beer, Sea Dog.

Once Landon Epperly graduated from Cave Spring High School in Roanoke, Virginia, he was accepted to Roanoke College where he would major in Business Administration and also plan to play for the mens soccer team. The injury prone freshman in college did not end up playing soccer at Roanoke and ended up transferring to the University of Mary Washington after his sophomore year. Epperly continued to major in Business Administration once at UMW and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2015. Epperly then went on to work for a marketing firm in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He worked in the marine division for Dominion Enterprises and marketed to companies such as Boats.com and other successful companies. Epperly would gain valuable experience and connections working for Dominion and would continue working his way up to being one of the top marketing directors for the marine division. Landon Epperly would later move to Wilmington, North Carolina and would work with several big name boat companies around the world.

Johnny was born on January 2nd, 1922 in Boston, Massachusetts, where he has lived his whole life. Johnny never had much of a home life. His father, Jim McCormick, walked out on the family when he was five years old. Johnny was an only child so he grew up with his mother, Wendy McCormick. Wendy started dating other men soon after Jim left and Johnny never enjoyed having any of them over. Johnny’s relationship with his mother started to turn sour, as he got older. The two never saw eye to eye so Johnny started spending time around the house less and less. He would always sneak out of the house looking for the next adventure and looking for what trouble he could get into next. Johnny ended up dropping out of high school; he always said, “It was a waste of my time.” Once dropping out of high school, he moved in with his friend named Gary. Gary was a few years older than Johnny and worked in a pool hall/bar named Corner Pockets Bar. Gary was able to get Johnny a job at the bar where he would clean dishes and empty the garbage when need be.

After work, Johnny started picking up the game of pool. He quickly became addicted to the game and constantly was looking to improve his skills. He would stay at the bar for hours after his shift to play. Once he was confident in his pool playing abilities, he started playing for money. When he wasn’t playing pool or working, he was out behind the bar playing dice for money as well. Johnny quickly became the guy to beat in Corner Pockets Bar. His nickname, “Johnny Corner Pocket” was founded shortly after for his legendary billiards style of only using the corner pockets and home of where his love for the game first started. When questioned about not using the side pockets in his play, he stated, “Side Pockets? Forget about it! Johnny goes for the corners!” Johnny started making more and more money and was working his way up to be on the most notorious pool players in all of Boston.

Johnny Corner Pocket is looking to extend his reputation by getting out of Boston and moving to the only city that could fully fuel his gambling addiction, Las Vegas. He dreams of a new life filled with gambling, billiards, girls and fame. He believes that Las Vegas can fulfill that dream for him.

What does Johnny look like?

Johnny is a tall, slender man with brown eyes. He is approximately 6 feet tall and weighs around 170 pounds. He has short, dark hair and always slicks it to the side. Johnny has some sort of facial hair on him at all times and is never clean-shaven. When he doesn’t have a toothpick hanging out of his mouth, he’ll have a cigarette to replace it. His clothes are rather raggedy but always find’s a way to make it look good. Johnny is a ladies man; the girls love his style, his hair, and his swagger.